Towards the northern end of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast sits Noosa — a region known for its geological diversity.
Often, when this publication discusses geology, it’s in the context of mineral endowment. Noosa, however, is known for its beaches and forest landscapes — and hosts what many in the Australian resources sector regard as a ‘must-attend’ event.
The Noosa Mining Investor Conference is a three-day event, held at Peppers Noosa Resort in Noosa Heads each year.
This year, the conference will be taking over Peppers during 22–24 July 2026.
Created by Equity Events, the Noosa Mining Conference is reputable for featuring ASX-listed resources companies, providing investors, brokers, and fund managers with a better understanding of existing investment opportunities in the mining, energy, and exploration sectors.
Equity Events first launched the Noosa Mining Conference in 2011, at the same time of its establishment, with an experienced team fronting the event.
The Noosa conference is spearheaded by Conference Convenor Phil Dickinson, a mining engineer with experience in both open-cut and underground mining.
Along with a rich mining experience, Dickinson is an ex-stockbroker — making him the ideal person to grow and develop the reach of the Noosa Mining Conference.
Who’s who?
Last year, the event welcomed 70 listed companies across the three days of presentations and exhibitions, with more than 2,500 delegates in attendance.
This year, the companies presenting include Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV), Metro Mining (ASX:MMI), QMines (ASX:QML), and Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY).
Antipa CEO Roger Mason tells Mining.com.au that the conference provides an opportunity to share the company’s story with the investment community.
“We think Noosa has grown to be one of the more effective investor-facing conferences in the Australian resources calendar,” Mason tells this news service.
“It tends to attract a strong mix of institutional investors, brokers, advisers, family offices, high-net-worth investors, and sophisticated retail investors, all in a focused setting.
“That makes it a very useful forum for us as it provides the opportunity to speak directly to a broad and engaged investor audience at a time when interest in gold, copper, and quality Australian development assets remains strong.”
Mason will be presenting on behalf of the company on 23 July at 4:15pm AEST.
In this presentation, Mason explains that the key message revolves around the evolution of Antipa.
“The key message is that Antipa is a very different company to what many investors may remember from a few years ago,” Mason explains.
“We now have 100% ownership of a very large Paterson landholding, a substantial gold-copper mineral resource estimate base at Minyari Dome, an active pathway to development and production, and a major drilling campaign underway focused on growth and discovery.
“The main themes we hope to land are sensible, detailed project advancement in combination with additional resource growth and delivering new discoveries.
“We want investors to understand both sides of the opportunity: Minyari as a standalone development project, one of the best outside of the hands of the majors, and the broader discovery potential across one of the best independent land positions going around.”
For the remaining half of 2026, Antipa expects to release a steady flow of news regarding results from phase one drilling at Minyari, along with project advancement updates as relevant technical and study workstreams progress.
Talk of the town
It’s been a big year for the resources sector, especially in Australia.
Critical minerals are all the rage, with governments backing exploration.
Queensland in particular has been vocal about its support for critical mineral projects, with the state government making legislation amendments to the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 in early June, intended to streamline the delivery of critical mineral projects across the state, as reported.
The reforms are designed to improve coordination, reduce duplication, and provide greater certainty for major projects.
On top of these amendments, just last week, the Queensland Government announced that it would invest almost $346,000 to support the critical minerals industry in Julia Creek.
Julia Creek sits just 137km east of major mining hub Cloncurry, which is prospective for copper, gold, and zinc extraction. One explorer operating in the area is Renegade Exploration (ASX:RNX) with its Cloncurry Copper Project, which is positioned near key structural corridors.
KPMG National Mining & Metals Leader Nick Harridge echoes this sentiment. Speaking to Mining.com.au, Harridge expects critical minerals policy support to be one of the biggest talking points of the Noosa conference, and whether it’s “translating into bankable projects and moving up timelines to development”.
“KPMG’s Matt Colquhoun will provide a keynote address on the importance of processing to Australia’s critical minerals strategy,” Harridge says.
KPMG will be attending the event as a sponsor for this year’s Noosa Mining Conference.
Harridge also says talking points will include gold’s ‘extraordinary’ run, M&A activity, dividend policy, cost inflation and how it’s affecting labour, contractor, and equipment costs, as well as whether producers should reinvest cash flow into growth or return it to shareholders.
“A year ago, the mood was buoyant for the gold sector but cautious for juniors. This year the overlay of the Iran conflict leading to disruption of fuel and oil supply chains has highlighted the need for nations to secure supply,” Harridge tells this news service.
“This security of supply over critical minerals is a positive for miners, and the various sources of funding available to help fund good critical minerals projects can only help.
“We expect more explicit talk of critical minerals, geopolitics, and government support mechanisms than a year ago.”
The 2026 program is now sold out for in-person attendance, though those interested can still register to watch the presentations online.
“We expect to see many familiar faces, and some new ones,” Harridge adds.
“The Noosa Mining Conference has gained in popularity since we’ve been associated with it, and I understand this year it’s sold out for in-person attendance — highlighting the enthusiasm from investors to hear from a program chock-full of small- and mid-cap companies.”
Mining.com.au is an official media partner of this year’s conference and will be attending the event.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Noosa Mining Conference & Antipa Minerals
